Crawford, Beckett, Gonzalez Gone In Huge Blockbuster

After tons of trade rumors last night involving the possibility of Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, and Carl Crawford going to Los Angeles, the deal is going to be finally made official today. Also included in this major blockbuster is Nick Punto as the Red Sox have freed up nearly $250 million in payroll space over the next several years and will take about $60 million off of 2013's guaranteed contracts. In return, the Red Sox will acquire first baseman James Loney (.254/4/33), who will probably fill in for Gonzalez for the rest of 2012. Along with Loney, the Red Sox acquired four prospects in the deal; #2 Dodgers' prospect Allen Webster plus Rubby De La Rosa, Ivan DeJesus, and Jerry Sands. Webster and De La Rosa are each highly ranked Dodgers' pitching prospects who are each close to major-league ready. Webster is 6-8 with a 3.55 ERA in Double-A Chattanooga and De La Rosa is coming off Tommy John Surgery but was 4-5 with a 3.71 ERA in 13 games in MLB last year. Sands (.303/24/101) and DeJesus (.295/3/33) have each had success in Triple-A, but haven't quite figured it out yet at the major league level-- .174/0/1 and .273/0/4 respectively. However, a change of scenery could help them out and Webster and De La Rosa should be elite pitching talent very soon. This deal is huge financially for the Red Sox as much as I hate to see Gonzalez go, it may be the right move.

Red Sox Acquire Beato To Complete Shoppach Deal

Two days ago, backup catcher Kelly Shoppach was traded to the Mets for a player to be named later. That player was announced today as former Mets' reliever Pedro Beato. I'm surprised that the Red Sox couldn't get more value out of Shoppach-- who was batting .250/5/17 with good defense in Boston-- but maybe in a few years, Beato could pay off. However, for now, he hasn't had a whole lot of success in the major leagues. So far this year, he's put up an ERA of 10.38 and has struck out 5 in 7 games and 4.1 innings in 2012. However, he played pretty much the full 2011 season in New York and was solid-- going 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA in 60 games. To start the 2012 season though, he went down to Triple-A Buffalo and put up solid numbers down there-- going 4-4 with a 3.73 ERA. The Red Sox have had a good bullpen this season, so I wouldn't count on Beato helping a whole lot this year. However, maybe in two or three we could see him entering games with the Red Sox on a regular basis.

Shoppach Traded To Mets For PTBNL

The move to acquire Kelly Shoppach as a free agent this winter was a surprising and much-critiqued move by many a Red Sox fan. It appeared that the Red Sox already had a reliable backup catcher in Ryan Lavarnway, who had batted .231/2/8 in 17 games in 2011. However, in Shoppach's brief tenure with the Red Sox, he had quite a bit of success as a backup catcher-- batting .250/5/17 with solid defense in 48 games and 140 at bats. Today, in a much more anticipated move, Shoppach was traded to the Mets for a player to be named later. Shoppach will bolster a weak catching position for the Mets and will probably get more playing time, particularly against lefties, against whom he's batted .250/.313/.500 this year. Taking over as the Red Sox' backup catcher will be Ryan Lavarnway, who has batted .125/0/0 so far this year but is looked on as the catcher of the future. Hopefully the Red Sox can get some value out of Shoppach but I wouldn't count on a huge return.

Red Sox Acquire Danny Valencia In Waiver Deal

The Red Sox have just made their second moderately important deal of the year as today, they acquired third baseman Danny Valencia from the Twins. Valencia impressed fans and players alike with his 2010 rookie season that saw him go .311/.351/.458 with 7 home runs and 40 RBIs for the division-winning Twins. However, since then, he's fallen out of favor with an unimpressive 2011 (.246/15/72) and an even worse 2012 (.198/2/17) that's seen him spend most of his time with triple-A Rochester. He'll be spending at least the beginning of his Red Sox days down in triple-A Pawtucket, as that's where they've assigned him. Valencia will probably serve as depth for Will Middlebrooks and potentially replace Nick Punto (.204/1/9). Still, this trade makes sense for the Red Sox as they traded very little to get Valencia-- just 21 year old Jeremias Pineda. Despite being 21, Pineda has never hit himself out of the Gulf Coast League. Hopefully, Valencia will figure himself out and this could become a very good trade for the Red Sox.

Red Sox Ship Lars Anderson To Cleveland

It's been very sad watching the path of Lars Anderson's career-- from a top prospect expected to crack the starting lineup by 2009 to a washed up 24 year old batting .259 in Pawtucket. However, it's entirely possible that a change of scenery could benefit the first baseman once loaded with potential. Today, the Red Sox traded Anderson to the Cleveland Indians for double-A starting pitcher Steven Wright. So far with triple-A Pawtucket, Anderson has been having his third consecutive disappointing season-- batting .259/.359/.415 with 9 home runs and 39 RBIs. However, it's not like the Red Sox are exactly cheating the Indians here as they aren't getting too much value in return. Steven Wright has passed his prospect status with the Indians, as the 27 year old is still in double-A and has pitched in Akron all year. He's had plenty of success though, as he is 9-6 with a 2.49 ERA-- plus, he's a knuckleballer. We bid goodbye to Anderson and hope that Wright's knuckleball will be dancing in Fenway before too long.

Red Sox To Acquire Left-Hander Craig Breslow

The Diamondbacks acquired more talent than the Red Sox did in this deal, let me make that clear. But still, I'm not unhappy because the Red Sox were able to deal Matt Albers and Scott Podsednik-- each members of the bullpen and outfield surplus that the Red Sox won't be building around. In return, they'll acquire a left-handed reliever named Craig Breslow who has quietly had a lot of success over the past few years. In his first year with Arizona in 2012, he's gone 2-0/2.70/42 with peripheral numbers far superior to Matt Albers'. He's struck out 8.72 per nine innings and walk just 2.70-- good for a very respectable 3.23 ratio. Both that and his FIP and xFIP of 3.61 and 3.54, respectively, are better than Matt Albers' 5.01 and 4.19 marks. Plus, there's always the issue that in acquiring another left-handed reliever, they free up the option of moving Franklin Morales back to the rotation. Morales had put up a 3.43 ERA in 5 starts earlier this year and would certainly be an upgrade over Aaron Cook. All in all, this was a smart trade for the Red Sox and I'm happy with it.

First Big Day Of American League Trades Goes Down

After a recent flood of trading deadline rumors of tons of players changing places, today a few actually took place. No big trades had really happened until two today that could have a massive effect on the American League playoff picture. The first is the trade of Marlins' starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez and second baseman Omar Infante heading to Detroit in return for three prospects (including MLB.com's 10th ranked Jacob Turner). The second is Ichiro Suzuki heading to the New York Yankees for a pair of prospects. Although it's certainly a big piece of news that Ichiro-- the first ballot Hall of Famer who's fallen to a .261/4/28 season in 2012-- is heading to New York, the Detroit deal will have a bigger effect. Ichiro is a famous and much beloved name and all, but his time is up and he'll probably serve as a fourth outfielder with New York. However, Sanchez (5-7/3.94/110) will definitely help a depleted Detroit rotation while Infante (.287/8/33) will shore up a weak second base for the Tigers. These are the first of many potential trades in what looks to be a very exciting deadline.

Darnell McDonald Designated For Assignment

With the abundance of outfielders on the 40-man roster plus Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford on the DL, there would eventually have to be some cuts. The first of these occurred today when Darnell McDonald was designated for assignment by the Red Sox. Ever since his Red Sox debut in the 2010 season where he batted .270/9/34, McDonald has largely been a disappointment for the Red Sox. He's taken over the role of a fourth/fifth outfielder in recent seasons and, while fairly good against lefties, has struggled in the long run. Last season he batted .236/6/24 and this year was only batting .214/2/9 at the time of his cut. However, this season he wasn't even hitting lefties well as he was equally bad against both lefties and righties (batting .214 against both). There are going to be some serious cuts in the Red Sox outfield in coming weeks with Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford returning. This could involve demotions or trades of Daniel Nava, Cody Ross, or Ryan Kalish. I wish McDonald the best in his future baseball career and I'll try to remember his 2010 self rather than 2011 and 2012.

Youkilis Traded To White Sox For Too Little

The Red Sox have made a mistake in trading Kevin Youkilis. While it's true that the beloved Youk needed to go, he didn't necessarily have to go for this little. The Red Sox have traded Youkilis to the White Sox for 25 year old pitcher Zach Stewart and utility man Brent Lillibridge. The emergence of Will Middlebrooks ever since his call up have had Youkilis up in trade rumors. However, these rumors have really been circulating the past few days and today reports indicate that the Chicago White Sox will be his new home. Youkilis's value is fairly low this year as he's only batting .233/4/14 but as a traditionally solid corner infielder, I'd have thought they could have gotten something good. But Zach Stewart-- a post-prospect who is yet to prove himself at the big league level and is only 1-2/6.00/16 in 18 games and a start this season? And Brent Lillibridge-- a 27 year old utility man that's only batting .175/0/10 this year? This is just disappointing for Red Sox management, they should have waited longer to see if Youkilis got hot to at least get something to help this team. But I'd be surprised if Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge ever truly impact the Boston Red Sox.

McDonald Off The DL, Bard To Handle Control Issues In Pawtucket

With Darnell McDonald coming off of the DL today, they Red Sox had to demote somebody to AAA. Their choice was a surprising one as they sent fifth starter Daniel Bard down. Bard has had a shaky time adjusting to starting all year, but it all caught up to him in a horrible start on Sunday. In that start he lasted just 1.2 innings, walking six and allowing five runs in a 5-1 loss to the Blue Jays. While his season stats aren't awful at 5-6/5.24/34, he's had serious control issues all year-- walking 6.04 per nine innings. It was thought that Bard may move to the bullpen, but they obviously want the Bard experiment to continue without causing damage to the team. Either Daisuke Matsuzaka or Aaron Cook will probably take Bard's place in the rotation for the next few weeks until he's ready to go again. Darnell McDonald will provide some depth to the outfield that has been depleted by injuries this year. McDonald was having a brutal season to start the year at .179/2/8 and while he generally can at least provide a decent bat against lefties-- he has only batted .185/1/5 this year. This is an interesting move for the Red Sox, but I guess they're serious about the Bard Experiment.

Red Sox Take A Trifecta Of College Athletes On First Night Of Draft

After last night's draft saw the Red Sox take Arizona State shortstop Deven Marrero with their first pick, #24-- the Red Sox are drawing comparisons to Dustin Pedroia. Like Pedroia, Marrero was a college shortstop that went to Arizona State; and like Pedroia, they are expecting him to shoot through their farm system. It would be foolish to assume that Marrero will be as good as Pedroia, however, given the drop off his stats experienced after the bats were changed in college. After batting .397/6/42 his freshman year and .315/2/20 his sophomore year, Marrero was in consideration for a Top 5 pick. However, he experienced a major drop off and only batted .284/4/33. On the other side of the ball, though, Marrero has always been great and this year did nothing to change that. One could argue that he has four tools: hitting, running, glove, and arm-- but the power hasn't developed yet. He is listed as a great defender in all categories and will probably stick at shortstop, given his impressive speed and range. We can only hope that he'll turn out like Dustin Pedroia, but he should become a good every day player.

With the 31st pick in the draft this year, the Red Sox selected Florida Gators pitcher Brian Johnson. Johnson has been scouted as both a pitcher and as a hitter after an impressive season that saw him bat .310/5/40 and go 8-4/3.56/68 in 86 innings. The kicker about Johnson is that he is a projectable college lefty-- always a hot commodity on draft days. Johnson's repertoire features an average fastball that sits in the low 90's, a slider that can be an above average pitch, and a change that can be an above average pitch. He can throw all of these for strikes, evidenced by his ridiculous mark of 15 walks in 86 innings, a 1.57 walks per nine innings ratio. The lefty is 21 years old right now and has a great pitcher's body with a 6'3", 225 pound frame. He gets good movement on all of his pitches-- including his fastball, which he sinks very well. His slider is his out pitch and his change, which he uses less than his other pitches also is good. We can only hope that Johnson becomes a very good lefty in the Red Sox system.

With their third and final pick last night, the #37 pick, the Red Sox took Monmouth University's Pat Light. After looking at Light's stats and tools, it surprises me that he even lasted to the 37th pick. Light is a big guy-- standing at 6'6" and 215 pounds-- and possessing a perfect pitching frame. His fastball generally sits in the low 90's, but he can reach back into the mid-high 90's and has even been clocked at 97 mph. Being 6'6", Light throws the ball downhill and has potential to throw it with even more sink than he currently does. His off speed pitches are not quite up to par, but he throws a decent breaking that has potential to be an average to above average pitch at the major league level. He does not have a great change, but that can be taught as he moves through the ranks of the minor leagues. 2012 was really the year that Light started to put all his skills together too-- after a 4.94 ERA and a 6-11 record through his first two years, Light pulled a fantastic 8-3/2.40/102 season in 2012. Light should become a good pitcher before too long and should be fun to watch.

Red Sox Acquire Podsednik, Lose Larish

Ben Cherington has been busy with a couple of minor league deals over the past few days. Yesterday the Sox acquired outfielder Scott Podsednik (right) from the Phillies and today, they traded first baseman Jeff Larish to the Pirates. Podsednik had been playing for the Phillies' AAA team in Lehigh Valley, and was not particularly impressing to start the season-- he was only .203/0/4 in 74 minor league at bats. However, Podsednik has shown his true skill this year, which has pretty much been his main skill throughout his entire career: speed, as he has stoled six of seven bases this year. Yesterday, the Sox got Podsednik from the Phillies in return for cash considerations. In a similar move, they traded Jeff Larish to the Pirates in return for cash considerations. The Red Sox had signed Larish a few weeks ago, and he was yet to start a game in their organization. Larish was not a huge loss for the Sox, and chances are that Podsednik will not be a huge gain. Podsednik will, however, bring some speed to the table-- something not seen much since Jacoby Ellsbury's injury.

Repko To DL, Anderson Up From Pawtucket

On the hundredth anniversary of Fenway Park on Friday afternoon, you may recall Jason Repko's amazing catch. He ran from his home in center all the way to the Green Monster to catch a line drive. Unfortunately, while making this spectacular catch, he suffered a separation of his left shoulder and will be headed down to the DL for a little while. Coming up to the majors to replace Repko will be Lars Anderson. Anderson has gotten off to an average start-- batting .255/1/8. However, the kicker is that Anderson, normally a first baseman, has been learning how to play corner outfield. Recently acquired Marlon Byrd should spend some time in center field until Jacoby Ellsbury is healthy and Anderson can fill in off righties when Cody Ross or Ryan Sweeney needs a break (Darnell McDonald would hit off lefties). It's time for Anderson, who was the Red Sox' top prospect, to finally show his worth at the big league level. He's coming off a good spring in which he batted .343/1/8, but this is the big show.

Red Sox Acquire Marlon Byrd For Michael Bowden

It's very rare to see a team make a legitimate trade involving major league players so early in the season, but yesterday the Cubs and Red Sox pulled one off. The Red Sox will acquire Marlon Byrd for Michael Bowden and cash. Now I'm no expert, but this trade appears to ridiculously favor the Red Sox. They are getting a serviceable outfielder to replace Jacoby Ellsbury and are only paying $400K of his contract, plus they are only giving up a reliever who is 0-0/3.00/3 this season. Now, Byrd has gotten off to a rough start to the year at just .070/0/2-- yes, you did read that right-- he is batting .070 (3 for 43) so far this year. However, I have no doubts that he can turn it around to become, as I said earlier, a serviceable outfielder. Last season he batted .276/9/35 in 119 games and the year before was .293/12/66 in 152 games. If Byrd can do that in the month or so before Jacoby Ellsbury returns, this was a great trade, and if not... well, they didn't give up much.

Red Sox Promote Repko, Spears

This morning, the Red Sox made moves which would promote Jason Repko and Nate Spears to the major leagues. To add them to the 40-man roster, they had to designate Michael Bowden and Luis Exposito for assignment. Repko had gotten off to a hot start at AAA Pawtucket this season-- he was batting at a .538/1/2 clip in four games and thirteen at bats before his promotion. Repko played in 67 games last season with the Twins-- he batted .226/2/11 in 133 at bats. These two moves were obviously made to give the Red Sox outfield depth after Jacoby Ellsbury's injury-- thus, Jason Repko will be batting ninth and playing center field in today's game against the Rays. Nate Spears hasn't gotten off to quite as hot a start as Repko-- he currently stands at .231/0/2 in eight games and twenty six at bats with Pawtucket. However, the thing about Spears is that he can play anywhere: outfield, infield, you name it. Hopefully Repko and Spears will pan out for now but they are only temporary additions to the 25-man roster.

Red Sox Acquire Latter Part Of Epstein Compensation

After waiting several months too long for the first part of this deal, the second part has been announced to nearly complete the process. This part of the deal involves the Cubs sending minor league pitcher Aaron Kurcz over to Boston. Kurcz has potential to become an above average relief pitcher at the major league level. He put together a pretty good season in 2011, pitching in 32 games (12 starts)-- going 5-4 with a 3.28 ERA. However, it was really in his strikeout and walk ratios that showed the potential for me. Last year, over 82.1 innings (no small sample), he struck out 9.95 batters per nine innings, walking 3.72 per nine, making for a 2.68 K/BB ratio. That, specifically the 9.95 strikeouts, shows setup or even closer potential. I think it is very possible that Kurcz is just as good if not better than Chris Carpenter, who was acquired earlier in the deal. Now, we just have to wonder who our player to be named later will be.

Red Sox, Cubs Finally Settle Theo Epstein Compensation

It's finally all over! Something we thought would be settled in early November is finally over as the Red Sox received Chris Carpenter (no, not that one) and a player to be named later for a player to be named later and Theo Epstein. Carpenter is a converted relief pitcher who cracked the majors last year. In 10 outings and 9.2 innings, Carpenter put up good numbers with the Cubs-- going 0-0/2.79/8. He had good strikeout numbers in the majors-- 7.45 per nine-- but control issues, with 6.52 walks per nine. This problem wasn't limited to the majors either, as he 6.82 per nine in 22 outings at AAA Iowa. The 26 year old power arm throws a fastball and a slider-- his fastball averages out at a blistering 96.5 mph and his slider isn't too shabby at 88.2. It'll be interesting to see who the Red Sox and Cubs pitch in as their players to be named later. Still, Carpenter looks like a guy who has a lot of potential and could potentially make the team out of spring training if he impresses.

Red Sox Sign Ross Ohlendorf, Add Some More Depth

Don't get me wrong, I actually really like what the Red Sox are doing-- compiling their depth with guys who have done it before. I'd rather have Vicente Padilla and Aaron Cook than Andrew Miller and Kyle Weiland any day. They made another move of this nature today, signing Ross Ohlendorf. Ohlendorf had nice years in 2009 and 2010 before falling apart in 2011, partially due to a nasty shoulder injury and partially he was just ineffective. He put together a miserable season of 1-3/8.15/27 in 9 starts for the Pirates. However, if Ohlendorf returns to form, he could go back to 2010 when he went 1-11/4.07/79 or in 2009, when he was even better at 11-10/3.92/109 in 21 and 29 starts, respectively. His peripherals over the years have shown he's been a bit lucky, however, with a 4.44 FIP and 4.75 xFIP in 2010. However, if Ohlendorf can stay healthy and puts up good numbers this spring, the sky is the limit-- assuming the sky is a 4.00 ERA.

Red Sox Avoid Arbitration With David Ortiz

Just hours before the scheduled arbitration hearing between David Ortiz and the Red Sox, they came to an agreement with Ortiz. The deal is worth $14.575 million over a year; that number was the midpoint of the $16.5 million Ortiz wanted and the $12.65 Boston offered him. That $14.575 is the most ever that a designated hitter will earn annually. It also preserves the Red Sox' record of no arbitration hearings since 2002-- which is good, as the last thing the Red Sox want to do is cause any hurt feelings amongst the players by going to war with them over a few million dollars. Ortiz had a strong bounce-back year in 2011, batting .309/29/96 after batting no higher than .270 since 2007. Ortiz' numbers will likely decline next season to some degree, but don't put a .290/25/85 year out of reach. Everybody loves Big Papi and it's great that he'll be returning with no hard feelings.

Red Sox To Sign Sean White

Today, the Red Sox made potentially the least meaningful move this offseason-- signing reliever Sean White to a minor league deal. White has spent some time in the majors, he played with the Mariners in 2007, 2009, and 2010, but he spent 2011 with the Rockies' AAA affiliate. In AAA this year, he didn't have a whole lot of success at 4-2/5.68/54. His peripherals showed that he pretty much deserved that too with a 4.77 FIP and a terrible 1.1 K:BB ratio. He pitched for a decent 5.90 K/9 but an awful 5.36 BB/9. He wasn't very good with the Mariners in 2010 either at just 0-1/5.24/15. His FIP of 4.68 and xFIP of 4.55 showed that he was a bit unlucky but his 3.93 K/9 were just terrible. His last (and only) good year was in 2009, when he went 3-2/2.80/28 in 52 games. He doesn't strike out anybody, but I suppose if he excels this spring, he could compete for that last spot in the bullpen.